It was a hard slog at times for Bayern in Monday’s all-Bavarian DFB Cup first round clash away to Jahn Regensburg, but the 15-time winners were clearly superior to the plucky second division side, two-goal Mario Mandzukic and livewire Xherdan Shaqiri starring in the second half as FCB upped the tempo and deservedly booked a place in next Saturday’s draw for the second round.
The 12,500 capacity crowd at the tight, unmodernised Jahnstadion saw Jupp Heynckes’ side initially toil against the disciplined home defence, but Mandzukic broke the deadlock on 32 minutes to reward the men from Munich for dominating possession – FCB had 79 percent of the ball before the interval - and controlling the play from the off.
After the restart, Shaqiri made his competitive debut for Bayern in place of Ribery, and promptly doubled the lead on the hour with a sublime direct free-kick. Croatia hitman Mandzukic made it three with ten minutes to play and prodigal son Claudio Pizarro volleyed the fourth, both from glorious Shaq assists, as Bayern safely progressed to the second round of the knockout cup with some ease.
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